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By Heide Kennedy, Arizona Farm Bureau Communications Intern

Pickles seem to be one of those foods that either you absolutely love or you hate with a passion. I personally LOVE pickles. In fact, every time my family and I go to a burger joint, I always get a couple sides of pickles just to eat plain. And, we always have a gallon jar of the giant whole pickles in our fridge as well. Something that I recently learned about pickles is that their juice can actually be pretty healthy for you.

According to registered dietician Matthew Black, pickle juice can benefit our health in two different ways. First, is that certain pickle juice is a good source of gut-healthy probiotics. Certain pickles are made sour by fermentation rather than just being soaked in a vinegar solution. These pickles and the resulting pickle juice are full of gut-healthy bacteria.

The other way that pickle juice can benefit our health is more so for those who engage in sports or other strenuous physical activity. According to Black, pickle juice relieves muscle cramps by inhibiting the firing of alpha motor neurons. Additionally, the high sodium and electrolyte content of pickle juice also helps to alleviate cramping muscles.

Who knew that the juice that these crunchy, sour little cucumbers float in could actually have some health benefits! So next time that you finish a jar of pickles, you might consider saving the juice and drinking a little every now and then!

For more health-related articles, check out the Fill Your Plate blog!